Baking for economics and the community–An experiential learning project for the principles of microeconomics class

Abstract

This paper introduces an experiential learning project for the principles of microeconomics class. In this project, students create a baking business and act as entrepreneurs, from conducting market research, engaging in production and sales, to evaluating their business’s financial performance. This hands-on project not only covers a wide range of learning objectives, including demand and supply, elasticity, market efficiency, production costs, and market structures, but also offers students an opportunity to improve their communication skills, problem-solving skills, time management skills, and teamwork skills. This paper introduces the project and provides supplemental materials for instructors to evaluate student performance in this project. This paper also discusses several modifications to shorten or expand this project to meet different learning objectives for various class sizes and class formats.